


The Girl

by PurplMuffinXTRM



Series: Changing Tides [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, Gender Issues, Light Angst, Mostly Canon Compliant, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-05 20:26:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15178667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurplMuffinXTRM/pseuds/PurplMuffinXTRM
Summary: Ace starts questioning Ann after a party on the Moby Dick.





	The Girl

Everyone is scattered around the deck of the Moby Dick. They either nurse food or booze or both in some cases. Ace lays on his back, arms and legs sprawled out around him. Thatch sits on the floor next to him with one leg folded beneath the other leaning back on his hands. Two half-empty mugs sit between them. Marco leans back against the side of the ship, elbows resting on the rail. An empty cup lies at his feet. Pops sits in his chair enjoying his saki. Ann sits leaning against the giant chair, a fresh mug of beer in her hand. The rest of the crew is in similar states around them. 

“You okay there, Ace?” Ann laughs.

“I’m fine.” Ace throws a fist in the air. Thatch shakes his head and laughs as Marco grins knowingly and Whitebeard chuckles.

“Hey, Ann.” Ace sits up. “Why does everyone call you brother instead of sister?”

“When I joined I asked Pops to call me his son rather than his daughter. It’s been a few years since then. I don't really care how other people view me anymore. I’m just Ann. The ‘White Flare.’ A member of the fourth division of the Whitebeard Pirates. That’s all that matters. This family means everything to me.”

“Why?” 

“Why what?” Ann looks to him as she takes a sip of her booze. 

“Why’d you ask Pops to call you his son?”

“Hmmm. There are a few reasons, but there's two main ones. The first I'd rather not talk about, and the second you should already know.”

“I should?”

“Yup.”

“Hold up. I'm lost. What should I already know and what aren't you telling me?”

Ann takes her time swallowing the rest of her drink. “Part of why I am the way I am has to do with my old crew and the situation I was in when Thatch saved my life. I'd really rather not get into that right now. I'd rather not talk about this at all.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Ace flops onto his back again.

Ann refills her tankard and grabs a piece of meat before rejoining her brothers. She pauses for a moment glancing at where she had been sitting by Pops and deciding to sit somewhere else. In a gentle move that's unlike her, she sits in Thatch’s lap. Thatch grins and leans forward slightly to kiss her cheek. After a few moments, Izo appears from below deck. 

“Izo, where'd you go?” Ace whines.

The other commander laughs. “Sorry, just remembered there's something I want to show you and Ann.”

Ann wolfs down the last of her meat.

“You're both from the East Blue, right?”

“Yeah. Why? What's up?”

“There’s some new bounties popping up there. One of the highest I've seen for the area.” Izo hands Ann a stack of wanted posters. 

She flips through them slowly. She pauses on one, her face slowly taking on a grin. “Ace! Ace!”

“What?” Ace sits up quickly.

In her rush to get to her brother Ann doesn't bother to stand. She takes on a fast crawl and slings her arms around his shoulders from behind when she gets there. “Look!” She lets out a squeal and shoves the wanted posters in his face. “Look at this!”

Ace grabs her wrist to pull the paper back so he can read it. His confusion turns to a grin matching his sister's. “Holy shit! He’s on his way to the Grandline.”

“I know. I know.” She squeals again. “I can't wait 'til he gets here. I haven't seen him in ages.”

“Who? What's going on yoi?” Marco questions.

Ace holds up the wanted poster for him to see. “It's our little brother.”

“The one and only Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Why'd you say our?” One of their brothers from the fourth division chimes in.

“You all have different surnames. Is it something like the crew?” One from the second adds.

“Kind of,” Ann explains. “When we were kids we stole a bottle of sake from our caretaker and swore an oath to each other.”

“Damn. So three troublemakers were running around your island. How’d the civilians manage to deal with that?” A member of the first division laughs. 

Ann giggles. “Actually there were four of us. The mayor of the village complained about us, but he didn't mind since he knew Luffy from when he was a baby and Makino kept us occupied while we were there.”

“Yeah,” Ace agrees. “We did our best not to start any trouble in the village.”

“That's unbelievable.” Izo shakes his head.

The crew laughs. “The kingdom on the other side of the island is another story.”

“Hey Ace, how many times were we almost arrested for stealing from the nobles?”

“I cannot believe you two.”

More laughter. 

After several stories about the mischief Ace, Ann, and their brothers got into things, start to calm down. Ann has found her way back to Thatch's lap and is falling asleep against his shoulder. “Ace,” she calls tiredly. “If a crybaby like Luffy can be a pirate why can't girls?”

Ace freezes at her unspoken question of 'why can't I.’


End file.
